Goldenrod
by Miss Mary Sue
Summary: Identical twins can’t be told apart by looks, until Kaoru realizes the underlying difference between Hikaru’s and his way of gazing at a certain scholarship student. Based on episode five.


Based off of episode 5, "The Twins Fight".

_Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club._

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**GOLDENROD**

"_You guys may look alike, but you're very different."_

"Why didn't you follow the script?"

He heard his brother's voice ask him this right after he tossed the last crumple of paper into the trash bin, throwing away any remaining insults and bickering they didn't need to memorize anymore. The boy looked up and his eyes met in line his own. His mirror image sat a few feet away from him on top of the bathroom sink, fingering the foils clipped around his hair, and stared back at him.

He had the same face, but he wasn't Kaoru.

Hikaru wasn't Kaoru, and Kaoru wasn't Hikaru – that much was true. When Haruhi told them apart, it was because she told their personalities apart. Hikaru was the brash and spoiled twin; Kaoru was the mature and selfless one. And yet, when people looked at them, no one could tell. Goldenrod, cat-like eyes, spiky styled hair, noses and mouths with every inch identical—

They looked exactly the same.

Kaoru's lips curled slightly. "What do you mean? I didn't leave anything out."

The older twin arched an eyebrow, as if he had missed something whispered about him. It was an expression Kaoru could easily copy, as could Hikaru vice versa. When one was full of sorrow, the other joined the mourning as well. When one was beaming with joy, the other acted just as rapturous. They practiced this so many times, sometimes they couldn't remember if the feelings were fake or not. It wouldn't matter. No one could read what Hikaru or Kaoru or both were really feeling anyway. They were master actors, and everyone else could easily be ensnared into their game.

Until…

"_It's kind of difficult to explain… but Hikaru's speech and actions make him come across a little more mischievous than Kaoru."_

Haruhi was always too observant for her own good. And though the two were just a little shocked by her sharp perception at that time, Kaoru soon figured that they had merely acted careless and slipped up around her a few times. Of course the girl would be able to catch a few differences here and there. It wasn't like… _like she could actually tell us apart just by looking at us._

That sort of thing was impossible. From the moment they shared the same womb, even their DNA was nearly identical. Haruhi was simply a girl who had only faintly dipped a toe into their world; nothing more, nothing less. It would be wishful thinking for Kaoru to ever imagine the silly little scholarship student point out who was who just by the bat of an eyelash, just by glancing upon the two, just by staring into their same, identical, goldenrod eyes.

The girl could never break their game, so they settled with her as their toy instead. Her presence provided great entertainment and potential pranks for them, and Kaoru couldn't remember the last time they had this much fun with the host club: thrashing out random insults, tripping each other's chairs, tearing up the cafeteria and classroom with food fights and whatever other objects or bodies they flung out with their arms. (He didn't know how Mori and Honey were able to float around with random books and chairs, but a cake-faced Tamaki swirling in the air was the big winner.)

Hikaru probably took the most joy out of Haruhi's exasperated reactions and her extra awareness for the two during their fight though, so all Kaoru had to do was pull up a smile and he would love Haruhi's attention too. From the start of their argument until the end of their big revelation, he knew what Hikaru was feeling and what he had to copy.

There was just one thing.

"Yeah, we used all the lines from our script, but you added something," Hikaru said. He continued to toy around with the foils in his hair, and though the boy knew he still had to wait for at least five more minutes, his impatience did not deter him from fussing around with the thin sheets of metal.

"Why did you say that I was in love with Haruhi?"

Kaoru stared at his brother, who had finally stopped nitpicking his hair to scratch his cheek, eyebrows now furrowed.

"I mean, it did make Boss throw a hissy fit, so I guess that's good and all…" he mumbled, awkwardly swallowing the lump in his throat.

The younger brother smiled knowingly, and made his way through the bathroom entrance.

"I guess I got too caught up in the moment and started improvising… what, did you think I was actually serious?"

He grinned at his mirror image after taking a seat next to him on the sink. Hikaru blinked back, until his confusion quickly turned into amusement, and he replied back with the same grin.

"You're right! Who'd like a raccoon like her, anyway?" the foil-clad boy laughed it off. "Well, the last five minutes haven't passed yet, but I hate all this waiting."

Hikaru began taking off the foils from his hair, and once all the thin sheets were safely plucked off from his strands, a river of cobalt blue streamed across his head. After brushing his fingers through his locks and checking himself out in the mirror, he turned to his brother – who had pink flamingo for his hair color instead – and gave a thumbs up.

"All good to go for tomorrow," he said, and cheerfully perched himself facing the bathroom tiles. Though the walls were the same sight as he had seen since they were born, tonight he beamed at them as if they were special. He kicked his legs back and forth from the bathroom counter, not minding the racket his feet were making against the drawers.

"I wonder what she's going to do."

Kaoru sat still and gazed vacantly at the same bathroom tiles.

"Yeah."

---

"Today Kaoru is the pink one, and Hikaru is the blue one. You swapped colors for today, huh?"

They were extra, extra careful this time, with their words and speech and actions and everything, but nothing could wipe the winning smile off her face at that moment before she turned around and walked away.

Hikaru was surprised, but kept his expression still. Kaoru did the same, because he felt the same way.

Hikaru stared at that mysterious girl walking away, because to him, she was in a different light and no longer just a toy. Kaoru did the same, because he felt the same way.

Hikaru held Kaoru's hand, because he wasn't sure what he was feeling. Kaoru did the same, because he knew whatever it was, his feelings weren't Hikaru's.

Slowly, his eyes rolled back towards the blue-haired twin.

_Look back at me, Hikaru. Like how we did the first time she told us apart._

He didn't.

Identical twins had identical faces, and Kaoru believed that was why, no matter how different their personalities could be, they would never be told apart. That silly little scholarship student – no, Haruhi Fujioka – broke the rules of their game. With a bat of an eyelash and a single glance, Hikaru was Hikaru, and Kaoru was Kaoru, no one else.

When Kaoru looked into Hikaru's eyes, he couldn't see his own anymore. A flicker of something else blazed quietly behind those different goldenrods, a faint glimmer shined beneath those unfamiliar irises.

No matter how farther away Haruhi walked, Hikaru never took his eyes off of her.

The pink-haired twin's eyelids drooped down, and then opened back up to Haruhi. He, too, stared on at Haruhi's backside. And at this moment, the younger brother knew he could no longer play copycat.

Kaoru had selfishly wanted Haruhi to recognize which twin was which simply by looking at them, but he didn't know what to wish for anymore when he realized that one day, that girl might just turn around and see the difference between both of their goldenrod eyes.

**End.**

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**A/N: **This is my first twin-centric fanfic, but I'm not sure if I like this one. :-\


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